And Ford dealers did anything to sell Model T's during the last year, as Chevy was hurting sales, so this Sport Runabout is painted white with white wheels, or since its a B/W photo, maybe painted a creme yellow?

You know, not having lived through those times, I'm still amazed at the one color offering and having sales increase to boot. It's different today but I remember the 50's & 60's when you not only chose any color you wanted but could also chose any interior color & style offered.

It sure does look nice. I always thought that Don Blacks aqua Town Car in the Towe Collection was the nicest looking T I have ever seen. There was also an aqua 13 touring on the Main Tour that I really liked.

During the "Black" era, the cost was reduced and the production increased. The whole idea was to sell as many cars as possible for the lowest price. It allowed the lower and middle income people to own a car. As competition increased, performance, comfort and speed were used to sell low price cars, and Plymouth, and Chevrolet gave Ford so much competition that he began to lose business. So he modernized the car by lowering the body, and improved the brakes and also offered cars in color. Note, the chassis, fenders and splash aprons continued in black during 1927 and on through the Model A era. So the chassis could still be mass produced and only the body was offered in a range of colors.

When you ask the question "did Ford paint with two colors", do you then mean Ford USA only? My 1926 Turing was probably produced i Copenhagen/Denmark, and it has red body and black fenders. Best regards, Sven

Robert, It is surprising to learn that all Model T's were not all painted black. That is a common misconception. Check out the photo section on the main page of this website to see. 1917-1925 is considered the black era for Model T's since thats when most T's were made. (others may correct me on this as far as the numbers are concerned).

I personally like the 2 tone combination of black fenders and using a period correct color for the body but to each his own on this subject!

1934 was the first year Ford offered cars with the fenders and splash aprons painted body color. When the workers stacked up hundreds of painted T fenders for the assembly lines you don't really think they knew what color car each fender would be going on do you? They were dipped in one color to save time.

For Robert who asked, “If the body is one color and the fenders are another color, was that factory or just something guys do to make the car look good?” In addition to the many practical answers above I would like to add:

Like so many other statements about the Model T Ford the answer often depends on what year, what model, as well as where the car was assembled etc.

For those wanting to know if a shipping invoice is available for your Model T – in general they are available for car #1 and then skips to cars from 1119 shipped Mar 3, 1909 to 69,100 Sep 15, 1911. Starting in Mid Sep 1911 shipping records are incomplete. After 70,915 (which was an engine only to Canada) the microfilms usually only record the engine serial number xxx was placed in car number xxx ref page 499 Bruce’s book. [For USA cars engine number and car number no longer agreed starting around Oct 6, 1911 ref: Oct 6, 1911 entry at: http://mtfca.com/encyclo/doc11.htm For Canadian cars the car number and engine number continued to agree into the 1920s.

For Aaron ref the fenders being painted body color. You probably were referring to the cars after the body colors were reintroduced for your comment that it was not until 1934 that Ford painted the fenders and splash aprons the same as the color on the bodies. . But many of the early Ts had the fenders painted the same color as the body – Red tourings with red fenders, Grey Roadsters, later Green Tourings etc.

There is always so much more to learn and document about the various Ts and especially about the T each of us has or wants.

Questioned above. Yes, European, British and Australian Ts were often other colors in a variety of combinations. I don't offhand know about South Africa or a few other places that assembled Ts. Another one that is not yet accepted as known for sure. Both the center-door sedans and the coupes appear to maybe have been dark blue up until about 1918. There were several lengthy threads on that subject a year or two ago. Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2

Allan: In the US Ford did offer a colour (1926-1927) known as "Ford Maroon" which was a very dark red. I have been told it consists of "a gallon of black with some red oxide pigment". It looks almost black except in bright sunlight. The colour I have used on the Fordor is not the same. It is much lighter and is a common US fleet colour used on many big trucks. I am planning on using 1926-7 Ford wire wheels which I will paint a brighter red, perhaps with whitewall tires. I may even add a single red pinstripe to the body. If I am going to stray from the beaten path I am going to go wide!

Thanks Jack for the maroon color combination information. I am building a 21 Touring and have the body color narrowed down to the dark blueish grey that is on the thread about T colors that Wayne is referring to. I believe there is a 22-23 Touring that looks great with the Blue Grey body color on the same thread. But Jacks Sedan Maroon looks awful nice! In my mind these colors are period correct so why not.

Jack, the paint make up you describe as Ford Maroon, can easily be used for the Ford Green too, l had an old ( I'm 50 and he's a lot older than me ) paint guy make up the green for my wifes 26 Tudor ,he said the same thing, a gallon of black with a little yellow......Ford Green !!!! and its right..no other pigments..

Wow David, you just saved me a bunch of trouble. I am getting ready to paint a model A pickup dark green. I will mix it myself and paint the inside of the cab and under the hood & pickup bed with cheaper enamel, like Rustoleum black mixed with a little yellow to make dark green..

Hap, are shipping invoices available for the 27 Modelt Ts? If so, where would one go to purchase a copy?

I bought my T from the second owner who bought it from his father-in-law in 1957. He's pretty insistant that the two-tone paint job is what the factory painted it. He repainted it again in the 1960s which is what you see on the car today.

I was also going to mention that I personally don't mind at all the different color schemes, even if they were nonfactory. In fact, when/if I ever repaint Betsy, it's a pretty fair bet that the body color will not be green on the next go around.

Ref your question, “are shipping invoices available for the 27 Model Ts? Sorry, no they apparently are not available for cars after about the end of Sep 1911.

There was a fire at the archives a long time ago (from memory 1970s?) and many documents were destroyed. The shipping invoices that are currently known for the 1903-1927 Fords are only for car # 1, cars 1,119 shipped Mar 3, 1909 to 69,100 Sep 15, 1911. Starting in Mid Sep 1911 shipping records are incomplete. But some are still available through 70,915 – Oct 1911 (which was an engine only shipped to Canada). Bruce notes on page 499 that the microfilms usually only record that engine xxx was placed in car xxx after that. And it probably does not go up into the 1920s as the number of cars produced went up so much compared to the early days. However that data may still be helpful to us in determining the shipping dates for the 1912 cars. I do not know if they contain a date on the later entries or not – but they do not have the actual shipping document that also includes the color, body style, often times the body maker and body serial number, type carb, type coils, type of lamps etc.

Note there are also some accounts receivable ledgers that do not contain nearly as much information as the shipping invoices but still contain the engine number, shipping date, body style, and where initially shipped. Those go up through approximately Jan 1915. But they are incomplete and contain a little less than 1/4 of the serial numbers. They are listed by dealer and branch. Which means for those listed it is very complete – such as Ford of Canada is listed. So for Ford of Canada we have a great list of when what serial number engines were sent to Ford of Canada. Usually they sent engines only but initially for the N and later the T they would send a sample car or two, then several chassis and finally just send engines only after that.

Concerning your paint scheme on your Coupe, at: http://mtfca.com/encyclo/1927.htm Bruce states, “COLORS: All [1927 models] cars had black fenders. Various body color options, ultimately on all models. Black no longer available except on special order. And according to the MTFCI Judging Guidelines “Highland Green” was one of the original colors offered on the Coupe (as well as the Fordor and Touring). So there is an excellent chance that your coupe was originally "Highland Green."

Gerry and others who want to know the paint code for the maroon paint it is a brand made by BASF called UNO-NR urethane paint. Code#C2S SR351.50 The black paint is an acrylic enamel made by DuPont. It is their Nason Brand high gloss black.